Regulation is an important field of agricultural governance, since it is one of the major instruments that societies use to deal with negative externalities of agricultural production on the one hand, and to address market failures in agriculture on the other. Examples include the regulation of agricultural biotechnology, regulations regarding seeds and pesticides, and regulations that aim at limiting market power in agricultural commodity markets. While regulation is necessary to meet societal goals, it also creates scope for corruption, rent-seeking and capture by interest groups. IFPRI’s research in this field analyzes regulatory approaches that aim at addressing these governance challenges, for example, by assessing institutional options for regional biotechnology regulation in West Africa.